Scottish Executive

Aggregates

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it expects demand for primary aggregates to change in the next five years and what factors it expects to account for any change in the level of demand.

Lewis Macdonald: Demand for aggregates will continue to be a matter for market forces. A number of initiatives are in place to increase the use of recycled aggregates which are intended to impact on the use of primary aggregates by the construction industry, particularly fiscal measures such as the Landfill Tax and the forthcoming Aggregates Levy.

Aggregates

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reform regulations on the specifications of construction materials and waste management in relation to the use of aggregates and whether any such changes will lead to a lower proportion of waste material and produce environmental gain.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is fully committed to seeking opportunities for sustainable construction and current standards already encourage such techniques.

  As an example, the Scottish Executive Development Department is a signatory to the latest May 2001 version of the Specification for Highway Works, which incorporates new specification clauses permitting wider usage of recycled or secondary materials in road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance. This Specification will be utilised for all trunk road new works projects and will also be available for use by other clients, such as local authorities, where appropriate. Additionally, the Scottish Executive’s Trunk Roads Divisions are actively involved in research and site trials of recycled road materials where it is hoped that these will provide further valuable support in promoting a sustainable approach to techniques for road construction.

  In relation to reform of regulations for waste management, there is a long-standing governmental commitment to review the exemptions set out in Schedule 3 of the Waste Management Regulations 1994. DEFRA is taking the lead on a UK basis, with a view to the production of a consultation paper by the end of this year. The purpose of the exemptions is to encourage the re-use and recycling of waste. Specifically in terms of Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency published, in 1999, the National Waste Strategy, which sets out a framework for reduction, re-use and recycling of waste.

Aggregates

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it expects demand for recycled aggregates to change in the next five years and what factors it expects to account for any change in the level of demand.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive expects demand for recycled aggregates to increase in the next five years as a result of the introduction by the UK Government of a tax on primary aggregates in April 2002.

Agriculture

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the imposition of groundwater charges upon sheep producers.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive has no plans to review the annual maintenance charge levied by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on those sheep producers who require authorisation under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 for the disposal to land of spent sheep dip.

Agriculture

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the imposition of groundwater charges upon sheep producers constitutes an unfair competitive disadvantage in comparison with the position of sheep producers in England and Wales.

Ross Finnie: The annual maintenance charge levied by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 is not unfair. The charge, which for the great majority of farmers is £127 or less, covers the costs to the agency of monitoring and administering the scheme.

  Special dispensation will be made for those sheep farmers that have lost stock because of foot-and-mouth disease. Charges will be waived for the current financial year and farmers wishing to delay restocking until 31 March 2005 will be able to have their authorisations revoked without incurring extra fees when reapplying.

Agriculture

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review its policy in relation to the dipping of sheep.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive keeps its sheep dipping policy under review. There are no plans to change the policy at this juncture.

Air Services

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the British Airport Authority’s position as owner of Edinburgh and Glasgow airports acts as a barrier to increasing the percentage of foreign air travellers who are able to fly directly into Scotland and, if so, what representations it will make to Her Majesty’s Government requesting that this position be reviewed.

Sarah Boyack: Under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, matters concerning the regulation of aviation and air transport are reserved to the UK Government. Matters concerning the promotion of direct air services from Scotland will be addressed in the preparation of the forthcoming Scottish air transport consultation document.

Air Services

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has regarding the regulation of airports and whether these include powers to take privately owned airports into public ownership.

Sarah Boyack: Under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998, subject to certain exceptions, the regulation of aviation and air transport is a reserved matter and therefore remains with the UK Government. Therefore the Scottish Executive does not have the power to take privately owned airports into public ownership.

Contraception

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-15785 by Susan Deacon on 11 June 2001, what the procedures are for seeking a patient group direction in respect of school nurses and emergency contraception and for issuing such directions, and what criteria an NHS Trust will apply before issuing a direction.

Malcolm Chisholm: The legal requirements for, and guidance on, all Patient Group Directions are set out in NHS HDL (2001) 7, issued in January 2001. A copy has been sent to the Parliament’s reference centre. If any health board were to propose to issue a direction authorising school nurses to supply emergency contraception on school premises, that board would consult with the appropriate education authority in accordance with guidance. Education authorities would in turn consult with parent groups.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available to employers in the current financial year to up skill their workforce.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise have a duty to assist employers to up-skill their workforce under the provisions of A Smart, Successful Scotland: Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks. Planned expenditure by the enterprise network on skills development in 2001-02 amounts to £173.2 million. For work-based training through programmes such as Skillseekers and modern apprenticeships, the enterprise network is planning to spend £69.2 million this financial year. The Scottish Executive is also making £0.5 million available to the employer-led national training organisations in the current financial year to assess skills needs and promote workforce development planning.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is for assisting employers in up skilling their workforce.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The strategy for assisting employers to up-skill their workforce and for ensuring the availability of appropriate training opportunities was set out in A Smart, Successful Scotland: Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks . Priorities include encouraging employers to invest in training; collaborating with learndirect   scotland to achieve the target of 100,000 individual learning accounts by 2002, ensuring the best possible start for all young people; creating 20,000 modern apprenticeships by 2003, and preparing people better for existing and future jobs. Planned expenditure by the enterprise network on skills development in 2001-02 amounts to £173.2 million.

  National training organisations (NTOs) also have an important role in workforce development in liaison with employers in their sector. £1.5 million financial support is being allocated to NTOs over the next three years to encourage work-based training and skills development, for the production of workforce development plans, and to help ensure the relevance of education and training provision.

Forestry

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how the figure of 44,000 people employed in forestry in Scotland, as quoted in Roots for Growth – A Strategic Framework for Action for the Scottish Timber Industries by Scottish forest industries cluster, was calculated and why it differs from the "Forest Employment Survey 1998/9" figure of 10,700 jobs.

Rhona Brankin: The figure quoted in Roots for Growth was calculated using data from the annual employment survey in Scotland. In addition, some allowance was made for those who were self employed, those who worked in related activities in the construction and service industries and those people working in northern England whose economic activity was directly linked with the Scottish forest industry resource.

  The principal reason for the difference in the numbers is the narrower definition of the forest industry used in the Forest Employment Survey 1998/99. This survey only takes into account forestry and primary wood processing jobs which are located in Scotland and which deal with British grown timber. Moreover, its estimate relates to full-time equivalent jobs, whilst the figure quoted in Roots for Growth relates to people in employment.

Forestry

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether employment in forestry and related businesses declined by 25% between 1989 and 1999; whether any such decline was particularly marked in rural areas, and whether there was an expansion of forests and an increase in the amount of timber felled and processed over the same time period.

Rhona Brankin: The Forest Employment Survey 1998/99, carried out by the Forestry Commission, collects information on employment in forestry and primary wood processing industries. It has shown a decline from 15,245 full-time equivalent jobs in 1988-89 to 10,694 in 1998-99. However, both the scope of the survey and the methodology of data collection have changed, thereby making strict comparisons difficult. No information is collected on whether forest employment was in urban or rural areas.

  Woodland area and timber production have both increased between 1989 and 1999. Woodland area increased from 1.107 to 1.297 million hectares and annual timber production increased from 2.37 to 4.69 million cubic metres. More information is available in the publication Forestry Statistics 2001 available from the Forestry Commission website at:

  www.forestry.gov.uk/statistics

Forestry

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any analysis of the efficacy of enterprise company assistance for forestry and related businesses was carried out to provide information for either the forestry industry cluster strategy or the enterprise networks review.

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise or the local enterprise companies carry out any analysis of the number of jobs resulting from their assistance to forestry and related businesses and what the findings have been of any such analyses.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Scottish Executive does not hold this information centrally.

Freight

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make an announcement regarding a freight facility grant for the Rosyth Euroterminal.

Sarah Boyack: We are currently giving careful consideration to two freight facility grant applications in connection with this project. I understand that my officials have recently written to the applicants seeking further information on their proposals.

Gaelic

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what involvement it has in plans for a new Glasgow Gaelic centre.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial and other support it intends to give to the establishment of a new Glasgow Gaelic centre.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The Executive is currently providing £25,000 a year in support of plans for a new Glasgow Gaelic centre. No decisions have been made about any further support.

Gaelic

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received either in support of, or against, a new Glasgow Gaelic centre.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The Executive has received a request for support for the project. No representations against a new Gaelic centre have been received.

Gaelic

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation has taken place with established voluntary organisations in Glasgow with regard to the plans for a new Glasgow Gaelic centre.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: Meetings have been held between the proponents of the Glasgow Gaelic centre and the Glasgow Highlanders’ Institute and representatives of other Glasgow Highland associations.

General Practitioners

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to encourage general practitioners not to operate as one-person practices.

Susan Deacon: We have no such plans. Rather we encourage all general practitioners to operate within Local Health Care Co-operatives which are designed to encourage co-operation and collaboration among all primary care professionals. In addition, as stated in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , we are taking steps to ensure a greater focus on quality in the GP contract. The quality standards will apply equally to single handed practices as to group practices.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assurance can be given that the urgency with which a patient’s case is dealt is determined by the clinician treating that patient on the basis of the patient’s medical need rather than in relation to target waiting times and lists.

Susan Deacon: The urgency with which patients are treated should be solely a matter for the clinicians concerned.

Health

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many health boards have given the drugs Enbrel and Remicade to patients.

Susan Deacon: This information is not available centrally. Enbrel and Remicade are available on the NHS. However, their use depends on the clinical judgment of specialists experienced in the management of rheumatoid arthritis. Data on drugs dispensed in hospitals are not held centrally. Centrally collected data relate to items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors.

Health

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many babies were given intrauterine transfusions due to rhesus incompatibility in each year from 1965 to 1975.

Susan Deacon: Information is available centrally for 1975 only.

  Centrally held obstetric information identifies six babies who were given intrauterine transfusions in 1975. It is not possible from available information to identify if these transfusions were due to rhesus incompatibility. However, it is understood that the majority of intrauterine transfusions performed in Scotland are due to rhesus.

  The figures have been supplied by ISD Scotland.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed 15 unified NHS health boards will be structured on the same basis as at present.

Susan Deacon: Full details of changes in NHS governance and accountability, including the establishment of the new NHS Boards, are contained in the change programme Rebuilding our National Health Service , published by the Health Department in May 2001, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s reference centre and on the Scottish Executive website at the following address:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/health/ronh-00.asp

Housing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the role of the new Executive agency related to housing will be in community regeneration.

Jackie Baillie: Local authorities have a lead role in community regeneration. In recognition of this the new agency will contribute as partners to local authority regeneration and housing strategies, offering a national and cross-authority perspective on planning and resource allocation. The agency will be responsible for implementing the Executive’s neighbourhood regeneration statement, including delivery of the social inclusion partnership programme.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has carried out or plans to carry out with individuals or bodies who work on salmon and sea trout rivers on its proposals in the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on the purchase of salmon fishing rights.

Iain Gray: The draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was published in a consultation paper in February 2001. This consultation document was available free to members of the public and also published on the internet. A period of 18 weeks from the publication date was allowed for submission of responses. Officials also met with representatives of the Association of Scottish Salmon Fisheries Boards and the Scottish Anglers National Association on 28 June to hear their views on the draft Bill proposals.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has conducted any survey into the impact on employment levels and tourism revenue of its proposals in the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill to allow crofting community bodies to purchase salmon fishing rights.

Iain Gray: We consider the consultation exercise which we have recently completed and which included responses from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Highland Council as well as landowners and crofting interests is a more effective mechanism for eliciting views on the impacts of our proposals.

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill

Mr Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its proposals for the purchase of salmon fishing rights in the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill will result in a loss of revenue raised by fisheries trusts in crofting areas for salmon and sea trout conservation and, if so, how that revenue will be replaced.

Iain Gray: The trusts are funded by fishery boards and fishing proprietors and their revenues will be determined in future as they are now by decisions made by those who provide the funding. The proposals in the draft Bill do not alter that.

Maternity Services

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-14907 by Susan Deacon on 19 April 2001, whether all areas with over 3,000 births per year are served by a consultant-led specialist maternity unit with access to neonatal intensive care and access to neonatal surgery and adult intensive care.

Susan Deacon: The  Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland was published in February 2001 and this recommended certain levels of provision of maternity care based on the birth rate within a location. NHS boards have been asked to work towards implementing the recommendations of the framework. A number of areas already comply with the recommendation that, where there are births in excess of 3,000, there should be a consultant-led specialist maternity unit. All boards have been asked to test their maternity strategies against the framework and identify any shortfalls by autumn this year.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many unfulfilled vacancies exist in the NHSiS for (a) clinical psychologists and (b) psychiatrists.

Susan Deacon: In connection with question S1W-14202, the member will be aware of a clinical psychology workforce survey which indicated that there were 44.25 (WTE) vacant posts as at 30 September 1998. More recent information is not available as data on the number of vacancies in clinical psychology is currently not collected centrally.

  The latest information available on the number of consultant and staff grade vacancies in the psychiatric specialties is shown in the following table, which should be read in conjunction with the notes below it. Recent expansion in the psychiatric sub-specialties and the effect of dual training have increased the specialist registrar training period by one year, and this has contributed to the number of consultant vacancies. In recognition of the pressures within psychiatry, the number of posts for doctors in higher specialist training in the psychiatric specialties has been increased from 134 in March 2000 to 139 in March 2001.

  Consultant and Staff Grade Vacancies in Psychiatry

  Headcount as at 30 September 2000

  


All Psychiatric Specialties 
  

44 
  



Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 
  

8 
  



Forensic Psychiatry 
  

2 
  



General Psychiatry 
  

22 
  



Psychiatry of Learning Disability 
  

1 
  



Old Age Psychiatry 
  

9 
  



Psychotherapy 
  

2 
  



  Notes:

  1. Source: ISD M(4), ISD Scotland.

  2. A vacancy is defined as a post which is funded but unoccupied at 30 September and a decision has been made to fill the post.

  3. Only consultant and staff grade vacancies are recorded.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a specified amount of time has to elapse between board members of non-departmental public bodies relinquishing their positions and their being able to apply for senior staff positions within the same organisation; if so, what this time period is and, in particular, what requirements of this kind apply to members of Scottish Enterprise and the Higher and Further Education Funding Councils.

Angus MacKay: It is for each individual body to decide whether a time restriction should apply. No time restrictions apply to members of Scottish Enterprise, or the Higher and Further Education Funding Councils.

Nursing

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail those research grants awarded by the Nursing Research Initiative for Scotland (NRIS) in 2000 where the person conducting the research was a member of the NRIS.

Susan Deacon: The Nursing Research Initiative for Scotland has not awarded grants to any of its members.

Nursing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12809 by Susan Deacon on 7 February 2001, when the review of support arrangements for nursing students will be completed.

Susan Deacon: On 7 February I said that a review would take place over the next six months. That review is almost complete. We will issue a consultation document seeking views on our proposals in the autumn.

Nursing and Midwifery

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will empower senior nurses and senior midwives to direct patient care.

Susan Deacon: There are a number of ways in which the nursing professions are being empowered at present. For example, through the recently published Framework for Maternity Services in Scotland , midwives have an explicit role in delivering and influencing patient care.

  In addition, Caring for Scotland - The Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery in Scotland has a commitment to investing in leadership at ward sister and charge nurse level and focus group meetings for those staff are being held now.

  I recently announced plans for Scotland’s first nursing summit to bring together all those with an interest in promoting nursing to work in partnership with the Executive to explore new ways of improving recruitment and retention.

Organ Retention

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to S1W-14802 by Susan Deacon on 4 May 2001, how many letters it has received from Scottish Parents for a Public Enquiry into Organ Retention since 12 April 2001, how many it has replied to and whether it plans to have a meeting with the parents’ group.

Susan Deacon: Since publication of the report on the first phase of the work of the independent review group on the retention of organs at post-mortem, six letters have been received from this group. A comprehensive reply has been sent which addresses the issues raised in the correspondence. There are no plans currently to meet the group.

Organ Retention

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to assist parents to obtain information from hospitals about organ retention.

Susan Deacon: Each NHS trust has nominated a member of staff with a sound understanding of the sensitive issues involved to act as the initial contact point for parents and other relatives wishing to obtain information about organ retention. NHS trusts are aware of the need to do whatever they can to provide parents with the information they are seeking.

Organ Retention

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many parents have applied to hospitals for information about organ retention to date and whether the information requested was given in each case.

Susan Deacon: By the end of June 2001, NHS trusts had received 1,745 parental enquiries regarding retention of organs at post-mortem. We understand that in each case, the parents were given as much information as the trust could supply.

Planning

Mr John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the planning guidelines for mobile telephone masts announced on 25 June 2001 take account of health concerns about electromagnetic radiation.

Lewis Macdonald: The national planning policy guideline (NPPG), which will accompany the new planning legislation, will set out the precautionary approach developed by the UK Government and the Executive regarding health concerns associated with radiofrequency radiation (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from mobile phone base stations. It also sets out the Executive’s policy on how this issue should be addressed where planning applications for telecommunications apparatus are submitted to planning authorities. Copies of the NPPG will be placed in the Parliament’s reference centre when it has been published.

Planning

Mr John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the telecommunication mast planning rules announced on 25 June 2001, whether permitted development rights for mobile telephone masts on buildings will apply to dwellings, schools, places of work and community facilities.

Lewis Macdonald: In general, the new planning legislation on telecommunications development makes no distinction between particular types of building with regard to permitted development rights for apparatus on buildings.

  There are designated areas, such as conservation areas and national scenic areas, within which permitted development rights for telecommunications equipment, with some minor exceptions, do not apply.

  The forthcoming national planning policy guideline on radio telecommunications discusses issues relating to public concern and the siting and design of telecommunications equipment.

Planning

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many planning appeals have been received by Scottish ministers from Executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies or non-devolved agencies in each year since 1996 and, in each case, which organisation made the appeal, what the total cost to the Executive was of conducting each inquiry, which party met the cost and what the outcome was.

Lewis Macdonald: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Planning

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is available in terms of finance and advice for members of the public who act as third party objectors in public local inquiries.

Lewis Macdonald: There is no financial assistance available to members of the public who act as third party objectors to an appeal. All parties to an appeal, including the appellant and the planning authority, are required to meet their own expenses.

  Information on planning appeal procedures is contained in a booklet produced by the Scottish Executive inquiry reporters unit (SEIRU), entitled "Planning Appeals in Scotland". There is also a Development Department Circular, SODD17/1998 entitled "Planning and Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiries and Hearings: Procedures and Good Practice". The booklet and Circular can be obtained from SEIRU and are also available on the planning home page of the Scottish Executive website. These documents are routinely supplied free of charge by SEIRU to anyone making representations about a planning appeal.

  Professional advice may also be obtained from Planning Aid, an organisation run by volunteers from the planning profession.

Prescription Charges

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to exempt all people under 25 from prescription charges as recently proposed in the National Assembly for Wales.

Susan Deacon: We have no plans to do so.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the grievance procedures that operate in the health centre at HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Any such matter would be for Premier Prison Services Limited.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many medical staff are employed and (b) what the ratio is of medical staff to prisoners in each prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  Apart from the SPS medical adviser, no medical staff are directly employed by the Scottish Prison Service.

Prison Service

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be funds available from the Scottish Prison Service budget for 2000-01 through end-year flexibility and, if so, whether such funds, or a portion thereof, will be used to end slopping out at HM Prison Barlinnie.

Angus MacKay: No final decisions have been taken on the allocation of end-year flexibility accruing from 2000-01 budgetary underspends to any Scottish Executive department/agency.

Rail Freight

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what volume of rail freight was transported to, from and through Aberdeen in each of the last ten years.

Sarah Boyack: The information requested is not held centrally.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Ormlie housing estate in Thurso is currently receiving any social inclusion partnership funding and what the reasons are for its position in this matter.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Highland and Islands social inclusion partnership is a thematic social inclusion partnership addressing social exclusion amongst young people in designated priority areas. Ormlie in Thurso is one of these designated priority areas.

Transport

Mike Watson (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how trade unions representing workers employed in the transport industry are being consulted on the work currently under way on the Executive’s transport delivery plan.

Sarah Boyack: I will be meeting the STUC shortly to discuss issues relating to the transport delivery plan.

Transport

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the results of the fuel duty rebate (FDR) and community transport services consultation will be announced.

Sarah Boyack: Following a wide-ranging consultation exercise, we intend to bring forward regulations in the autumn to extend the availability of fuel duty rebate to a wide range of community transport services. Full details will be made available at that time.